365 in 2015 - End of week 52

This is officially week 52! But my first week was only two days, so I have five days left of my challenge. I got a new camera lens for Christmas and have enjoyed playing with that as well. I'm hoping to end better than I've done the last few weeks!

Cheyenne's new dress (and matching one for her doll!) that she got from Grandma for Christmas. She was so excited to get up and get dressed for church! 

On Monday, my two big girls each lost a tooth! Paige lost her first tooth, and Cheyenne lost her third! (Yes, my kids are on the later side for losing teeth!)

Tuesday morning was insanely foggy when I woke up. I quickly got the kids up and out so we could take some pictures. This was one of my favorites!

One of many pictures we took at Freeman's Mill Park. 

Paige playing on the porch with my umbrella one rainy evening.

Jon's new apron. He'd mentioned wanting one with Kiss the Cook on it, and I thought this one was funny!

One of my new ornaments made by Mary from The Old Well House. 

365 in 2015 - End of Week 51

It's getting so close to the end of the my 365 project! I can't wait to be finished, and yet, I kinda (but only kinda) want to continue. I'm looking forward to working on learning more - without the pressure of feeling the need to take constant pictures of get them on here. Anyway, here's my pictures from last week!

This is an extra picture from the end of the week. I still mostly miss Sundays, so I just try to plug in an extra picture from later in the week. I thought this was neat!

My girls before their award ceremony Monday evening.

We went to a friend's house and decorated gingerbread houses on Tuesday. Clayton was quite proud of his and just how fully covered it was!

A pretty day at Mamaw's house always leads to tree climbing! Cheyenne got higher than she's gone before, and of course Paige is as absolutely high as she can possibly get in the tree! 

At school Thursday, I didn't see Shelby in the nursery. I asked Sophia where she was and she said that Shelby was in the box. I took the lid off and found her all curled up inside!

I skipped Friday, so this is from Saturday. We had Christmas with Jon's dad and stepmom. Shelby sat right down next to Grandpa and started "reading" her books. 

A self portrait....of sorts.

365 in 2015 - End of Week 50

Ah, I'm caught up with these (until tomorrow anyway)! Once again I didn't take many pictures last week, so most of these are from one day. That seems to be how I've been doing recently. And how I foresee myself taking pictures in the future. It won't necessarily be a daily thing, but I want to be able to know what I'm doing when I can and want to take pictures. I still need to learn how to better manage taking pictures indoors in low light situations (at night). Mine tend to be too grainy. Something to work on though!

My newest peppermint soap from Apple Valley Natural Soap. I loved all the bubbles!

Jon's dad Otis and his sisters: Annette and Maxine.

Paige

Shelby

Cheyenne

Clayton

The kiddos!

365 in 2015 - End of Week 49

I'm moving into December pictures! So excited to be finishing up this project soon! I still have more to learn and want to learn more, but I'm at the point where I want to do it at my own pace, with other (different) projects thrown in between (like more sewing!). These are from the week of November 29 - December 5. Continuing with the thankfulness theme this week too. 

Silliness: Paige's new fashion style - tights on the head!

Cuddles: Shelby's cuddle time with Daddy.

Reading out loud: I wrapped up twenty-five books to open and read every day. Counting down to Christmas!

Little helpers: Paige helping decorate Mamaw's little tree. I just love the scarf on her head!

Beautiful colors: God's amazing artwork one evening!

Volunteering: I was so excited to get to work at the Operation Christmas Child warehouse this year! It was a very neat experience and I hope I can go back next year too!

Christmas memories: Cheyenne and Paige dressed up and ready for the Buford Christmas Parade (it was a chilly morning) with their American Heritage Girls troop! It was a sweet time together with our troop!

365 in 2015 - End of Week 48

I finally got a few minutes to work on another 365 post! I was hoping to get stay on top of these as well as catch up with my other pictures (I'm still working on July!), but I doubt that will happen. Oh well, life is more important than sitting behind a computer! These are from the week of November 22nd-28th. Continuing with the thankfulness theme.

Big Smiles: I love seeing my kiddos have fun and enjoy themselves! It's always a joy to see their beautiful smiles!

Determination: Paige was working hard to get this thing to move how she wanted it to!

Laughter: Shelby went to giggling when I asked to take her picture.

Christmas trees and decorations: We put our tree up before Thanksgiving this year because we were going out of town on Thanksgiving day for the whole weekend. I love having our tree up and decorated. It's so beautiful!

Visiting family: We went to Aunt Maxine's house in Atmore, Alabama for Thanksgiving. We had a great time visiting with everyone!

Family pictures: I love getting pictures of all of us! 

Beautiful scenery: The morning view at Aunt Annette's farm.

365 in 2015 - End of Week 47

I'm a couple weeks behind posts for my 365 project. I just couldn't seem to get excited about doing the rest of November's pictures. I figured out why while I was doing the ones for this post (from the week of November 15th - 21st): I just didn't take very many, and I only liked a couple of the ones I did take. I'm still posting them all here because I feel like I need to and I'm so close to the end! I am definitely ready to be done though. One thing to note is that I have kept my camera on manual mode almost exclusively since October! I've learned more and more things the more pictures I take and I really wish I had done that earlier this year! As will be obvious with this post though, I still have a lot to learn!

Fun Fabric: I found this lovely Christmas print at Joann's and decided to make a tree skirt out of it! This is the first Christmas I get to use it! (I made it in July, but never took pictures of it.)

Comfy spots for homeschooling: The kids needed to watch a short video for their history class. They enjoyed laying on the bed to watch it! 

Sharing: The girls played so nicely with Cheyenne's glowing art board! The took turns coloring on it and creating different people. 

Baby love: Paige loves her cousin Patrick! And I just love those smiles! 

Sweet moments with friends and cousins: The kids enjoying a sweet moment at co-op on Thursday! 

Windows: I was just extremely thankful that this thing was not INSIDE my car. Have you seen those stories about people jumping out of their cars or something crazy like that? Yeah, that could have been me! (You should have seen how I acted with it on the outside!!)

Naps: Shelby decided she needed one on her own. Which is why she is on the floor....behind Jon's chair. Notice she put her skirt on backward! :-)

365 in 2015 - End of Week 46

I'm a couple weeks behind posting these. December has only just started, but things are crazy as can be! Continuing the thankful theme for November; these are for the week of November 8-14.

Completed projects: I finally finished this quilt I started when Paige was a baby (five years ago!). My sister got me back into sewing, and I was very thankful to finish this project!

Shelby: My youngest kiddo. She's growing up quickly and has changed from noticeably being a toddler into a little girl. She loves singing and dancing and playing dress-up.

Paige: My little mama. She loves holding her baby cousin Patrick or any other baby she can get her hands on. When she's not holding a baby, she loves to be up the tallest tree she can find! She also enjoys dressing up and playing with her sisters or brother.

Cheyenne: My sweet girl. She's always ready and willing to help out someone who needs it. She makes sure Jon eats breakfast and takes a lunch before he leaves for work (since he has a tendency to skip one or both of those without the proper encouragement). She loves to read and do crafty things, but she'd rather be outside than just about anywhere!

Clayton: My oldest and fastest growing kiddo. His feet are gigantic and he's steadily inching his way toward being taller than me (he can't wait!). He loves learning things at co-op or on Khan Academy, hard work, reading, and especially building with his Legos. He's always thinking up something creative to work on!

Working together: I'm thankful that my kiddos love to work together. Our yard was getting unbearably full of pine straw, so they got out and raked the driveway and the front yard. It was a lot of work, and they did the job nicely together!

Playing together: I thankful that my kiddos can also play together. They love games and enjoy playing with each other!

365 in 2015 - End of Week 45

While I have been (relatively) keeping up with my 365 posts, I'm dreadfully behind with my other posts! It's so daunting to think about catching up at this point, that I'm not sure I ever will. Anyway, hopefully one day I'll get around to those as well. For the month of November though, I thought I'd go with the traditional idea of things I'm thankful for. 

Bible Study: The new month started a new little Bible study that gets delivered to my email every day. This month we are studying Romans 8 and it's so encouraging to know that there is now NO condemnation to those who are in Christ! 

Sewing: My sister pulled me back into sewing during the father/son campout, when she helped me put together the back for this quilt that has sat in my closet for the last five years or so. It really renewed an excitement for the hobby and I look forward to working on more projects too!

Dress-up: I love how much they love to dress up and play together. For Halloween they wanted to all be Avengers, but I didn't want to purchase four new costumes (at new prices). After Halloween though, we stumbled on a very large sale at Walmart and all their costume were $3.75! I went ahead and got these and the kids have enjoyed playing together often.

Church: I'm so incredibly thankful for our church and the faithful preaching we hear there every week! It's been a joy to belong to such a family as this! 

God's beautiful creation: We stopped at this little lake on the way home from our ladies retreat. The reflection on the water was just crisp and clear, so we just had to stop!

Sweet notes: This was hanging on the wall in the living room when I got home from the retreat. My sweet Chey wanted to leave a little note for me when I returned! 

Jon: I'm thankful for this kind and loving man that God brought into my life. He's a great husband and father and seeks the Lord's help in being what God called him to be! (This picture is actually from October, but one I haven't posted yet and one of the best pictures I have of Jon.)